A New Years Eve Story
by mudbloodandproud1996
Summary: She was not really one for New Year's Eve parties, but when she saw the invitation Castle handed to her a week ago, she was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, this one time she would go. A New Years Eve fanfic for you guys. Now Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay so this is my first ever fanfic ever! I wrote this a while ago but I thought I would be brave and upload it. Let me know what you think of it and I think this will be a few chapters long. I have only written this chapter so far but if you like it and want me to continue then just review and let me know! I am also not a very experienced writer so I appreciate any feedback! Okay so I'm gonna stop talking now. Enjoy!**

The dimly lit precinct was deserted. The only two people in the precinct were Castle and Beckett. They had just wrapped up a case earlier that day: a 17 year old girl, stabbed in the back by her neighbour. She was just finishing off paperwork for the DA so they could get a trial happening as soon as possible. She insisted that Castle go home but he had refused, because he knew she wasn't going home until her work was done, and he thought she might need the company. Given it was the holiday season after all.

He had been doing that a lot lately, she thought to herself. Staying late, hanging around her at all times. She wasn't complaining though, she secretly loved having him around her. It made her feel safe somehow, to know that he was right there next to her. She had gotten so used to him being around her at all times that it didn't surprise her when he invited her to his New Year's Eve party tomorrow night.

She was not really one for New Year's Eve parties, but when she saw the invitation Castle handed to her a week ago, she was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, this one time she would go. She had been wanting to go to one of his famous parties for a while now, and she was secretly hoping that she would...well...kiss him at midnight. She had been thinking about him more and more lately, and kissing him was definently one of the things she thought about and she wondered what it would be like. Maybe after tomorrow night she wouldn't have to wonder anymore.

She smiled to herself, and she only realised she was staring into space when Castle moved his hands across her view.

"Beckett? You still with us?"

"Hmm?" She replied. "Oh yeah, sorry, just thinking,"

"You were thinking about something dirty weren't you?" asked Castle,

She glared, and he immediately retracted what he said.

"Or maybe not then."

She looked back to her desk and resumed the mountain of paperwork she had before her. Castle watched her as she worked. There was something soothing about him watching her. Her spine tingled, and she smiled to herself. To think that Castle was looking at her was something still mind boggling, even though he had been shadowing her for nearly 3 years now.

At midnight, she got up, stretched and departed work for the day with Castle, stopping only on the way to drop off her coffee mug in the sink in the break room.

As they stood waiting for the elevator to come, Castle decided to take his chance and ask her about the New Years party. That she STILL hadn't responded to, despite having given her the invitation 3 weeks ago.

"Beckett, about tomorrow night," he started,

"What about it?" asked Beckett.

"Well I was just wondering if you were coming to my party, that's all. You hadn't replied,"

Crap. She knew there was something she had forgotten to do. Of course she was coming, but she had forgotten to tell him.

She bit her bottom lip as she pretended to think about it.

"Hmmm...I dunno Castle, I WAS planning on staying home watching the ball drop in my warm, comfy bed all by myself..."

She could see what that image was already doing to him. His lips were turned down and his puppy dog eyes were looking at her. Begging her to change her plans.

"But since I don't have anything better to do, why not?"

His frown turned upside down in a split second and smiled brightly at her.

"Oh Beckett, I knew you couldn't stay away from me on New Years. Now..." he said as the elevator doors opened and they walked in.

"What are you going to wear? Something sexy? Hot?"

She whacked his arm.

"God, Castle, you want to see me in one of my _short_…_tight_…dresses, don't you?"

she emphasised each word, and she saw him gulp and his eyes widen.

"Well, to be honest...," he began, but was cut short by another arm slap from Beckett.

"Castle!" She exclaimed. They had reached the lobby and he motioned her to leave the elevator first, a hand on her lower back guiding her out.

"Always the gentleman, aren't we Castle?" she muttered.

"Well it was how I was raised," he put simply as he offered his arm to her as they walked out onto the street. She accepted it and they walked out into the freezing cold. She instinctively lent closer towards him, seeking his warmth, and was still hesitant to leave his side after she hailed a cab.

She let go of his arm and opened the door, half stepping inside the cab, resting a hand on the top the door.

"Well Castle, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah I guess you will. Don't be late! Party starts at 8pm sharp!"

She laughed at him. Her? Late? To a party at Castles house? Never.

"I won't be late Castle, I promise. Goodnight," she said. She closed the door and gave the driver her address and leaned back into the seat.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

**Thoughts? Should I continue?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow I can't believe the response I got from the last chapter, I loved getting so many alerts. Thank you all! I forgot to mention also, this story is set sometime before the end of season 3. I think I will be ending this story in another chapter or two. Okay, enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: if I owned the rights to Castle I would be chilling with Stana Katic right now, not in my bedroom eating ice cream and writing this.**

"Oh shit I am in way over my head here" Beckett muttered to herself. She was standing in the elevator on the way up to Castle's apartment, wearing a one shouldered red chiffon dress with flowers at the neckline, that came down to her mid thigh. Probably not what Castle would be expecting, but she didn't want the reason that he came onto her tonight was because of a short tight dress she was wearing. There would be plenty of blonde booby bimbos there who would take care of that at.

She breathed more deeply the closer she came to the penthouse level.

_"What am I even freaking out about? It's a freaking New Years Eve party! I've been to plenty before, just, not one that Castle has hosted. I just need to calm down and just enjoy myself."_ she thought to herself.

The elevator reached the floor of the loft. She sucked in a breath and made her way over to the door at the end of the hallway. She took a few deep breaths before she knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, Castle opened the door.

"Beckett!" he exclaimed "I knew you would come! Here come in, let me take your coat," he ushered her inside, touching her on the back slightly to guide her in. She shrugged off her coat and he took it from her and hung it in the closet beside the front door.

She turned to face the apartment. A 16 foot Christmas tree was in the centre of the living area, which was already quite crowded with 50 or so people, a mini replica of the Times Square ball was hanging above everyones heads, the apartment was covered with balloons and streamers, and the TV was tuned into a live feed of Times Square.

"Wow! Castle the loft looks...amazing! How long did this take?"

"What this?" he scoffed, waving away her comment, "You should have seen the loft a few days ago at Christmas. This place was like a winter wonderland!"

He sighed and looked at her and smiled, so she smiled back and then looked down at her shoes, not really knowing what to do or say.

"Would you like a drink?" he asked

"Yeah, sure," she replied all to quickly. She guessed he could sense her nervousness, because he smiled and chuckled to himself slightly.

"Alright, I'll go get you a drink, you go find yourself a nice seat on the couch and I will bring it over to you, 'kay?"

He didn't even bother to hear her answer, as he walked away over to the kitchen.

"'kay," she sighed to no one in particular.

She had no idea how much time had passed before she realised she was still standing in the same spot. Pulling herself out of her fixed state she made her way over to the lounge room where the only seat left was a small two seater loveseat. She groaned to herself as she made her way over to the small couch, only to have someone wind one of their arms around her hips and continue to guide her the rest of the way,

"You know detective, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a little nervous," the man whispered in her ear.

She turned to her side to see that Castle had returned with two glasses of champagne in hand, (How long was she standing there before?!). She removed herself from his grip by walking a little faster, and sat down on the seat quickly.

"Nervous? Nervous of what exactly Castle? I'm a homicide detective remember? I don't _get_ nervous, ever." he handed her a glass and sat carefully beside her, the small sofa not giving either of them much room, so their bodies were very close together.

"Oh really?" he questioned, more serious now, "Well if that's true, then how come you haven't looked me in the eye since you came here? I can't have done anything in the past few hours since we last saw each other that would make you hate me, so why have you been avoiding my eyes?"

She could hear how his voice hurt so she looked up and stared into his eyes, making a point of it.

"Well, I admit I was kind of nervous about coming here tonight, because, well, God, I don't even know Rick, I just..." she buried her face in her hands and sighed.

"Hey, shhhh…." he said as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, which she responded to and wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into the crook of his neck.

"Kate," he continued, "It's okay...you don't have to feel nervous around me, it's _me_,"

She pulled out of his grip and held his hand, and whispered softly, "Yeah, I know, and I love that I can be so comfortable around you, don't even know how to explain it. I just feel, nervous about how you would be acting at this party, I mean, look around you!" she gestured to the crowded apartment. She saw lots of girls eyeing Rick, mostly all of them blonde and wearing dresses that highlighted their cleavage.

"The old you would have been ignoring me almost immediately after I walked in, and be signing all of these girls chests. But you've changed a lot since I first met you, and I thought that this party would change all that about you, making you the guy you were when I first met you. And I didn't want that."

He sighed and looked at her. She was now making a point of looking him in the eye, not wanting him to sound like he did before, ever again.

"I know what you mean Kate. I know in the past I have been the womanising type, but you have to trust me when I say, that old life is behind me now." He took her hand in his and squeezed it. "I'm not that guy anymore."

She squeezed his hand back and said "I believe you."

They both smiled and continued to look at each other, oblivious to everyone in the room. Eventually, Beckett broke the silence.

"So if you aren't a womanising player anymore," she started,

"Hey!" he retorted playfully, lightly punching her on the arm, "I admit I was a womaniser but I was never, nor will I ever be, a player."

"Alright," she said, putting her arms up slightly in defence, "So if you aren't that person anymore, then who are you?"

He considered it for a moment, looking around the room, having a sip of his drink before responding,

"Well, up until a few years ago, I was the man you knew when we first met. A complete, immature, egotistical, self-centered jackass, who was bored of fame, money, and I desperately needed something, _someone_, different in my life. Then I met this remarkable woman..." he reached for her hand again, which she accepted and lent into his shoulder, smiling,

"Who still thinks you are an immature, egotistical, self-centered jackass," she said.

"Well there is that too I guess," he laughed, "but she also gave my life a new purpose and meaning. Yes, I based a book off her and her real life adventures, but she made me who I am today. A man, who would rather spend his time fixing the troubles in the world instead of creating it, a man who would rather spend every minute of his day with her than with all the supermodels in the world."

She leaned back and looked at him, "Yeah right, Castle,"

"Yeah you're right...not ALL the supermodels in the world…OW!" she punched him hard on the arm.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he said quickly.

"It's okay Castle, I know you were joking."

"Good," he said. He put an arm around her waist and pulled her in closer, and whispered in her ear ,

"You're worth a whole lot more than any supermodel in the world Kate, you are more beautiful in so many ways. You are more extraordinary than any woman I have ever met."

He pulled away and she blushed furiously. Damn him and his words! She decided to tease him even further as she moved herself closer to him and played with the collar of his jacket.

"You're not too bad yourself Castle."

When she finally stopped playing with his collar, she looked up into those piercing blue eyes, and saw them staring at her, almost in awe. He rested his head onto her forehead,

"Kate," he whispered, his breath running down her neck,

"Yeah?" she asked,

"I…"

They were interrupted by Gina, who cleared her throat in front of them.

"Hem-Hem"

Castle groaned and closed his eyes as he turned to face her.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"Nothing, I just thought seeing as it is your party that, you might want to actually _speak_ to some of your guests, instead of sitting over here with your..._friend_."

Castle sighed and patted Beckett on the leg before standing up.

"Sure, Gina, I'll do my rounds in a sec, just…" he held up a finger to her, indicating he would be there in a minute. Gina looked annoyed and walked off, stopping to talk to someone. Castle looked down apologetically at Kate and said "I'll be back soon."

As he walked off, Kate sat there and looked down at her father's watch. Surely they hand't been talking for that long?

She watched as Castle was lead over to a group of baseball players by Gina, who had just slipped her hand into Castle's back pocket, and rested her head on his arm.

**A/N: Okay, so I thought that this was a good place to leave this chapter, I didn't want to make it too long. I have the next few chapters planned out, which I am writing currently. I am aiming to get one chapter out a week, as I have school work to do :(**

**Thoughts so far? Should I keep going?**

**tumblr: castleismyoneanddone**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I am so so sorry for not updating sooner! I hadn't written in so long and then life kind of got in the way, so I sincerely apologise. I plan to end this story in the next chapter, which should be up in the next week or two. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, they would have gotten together in the first episode.**

* * *

She felt sick. Her heart clenched at the site of Gina and Castle together. He didn't even try to get her hands off him, he just left them there, even leaning into her a little.

She had to get out of there. She got up off the couch and quickly made her way to the bathroom before the tears could fall. She barely closed the door before she collapsed on the cold floor and began to cry.

_"How could I be so stupid!?" _she thought to herself, _"Of course he would still want to be with his ex-wife, they only broke up a few months ago! He still loves her. Why did I think this was a good idea!? God, Kate, how could you be so stupid!"_

She had to get out of there, her crying was making it difficult to breathe. She had to get away, away from the party, away from Gina, but mostly, away from Castle.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Her mascara had run everywhere and her eyes looked red and puffy. She got a piece of toilet paper and fixed up her makeup as best she could; she didn't want anyone to know that she had just been crying.

Once she was done she took a few deep breaths and walked out the door of the bathroom.

* * *

"Where's Kate?" Castle asked, unwinding himself from Gina's arm after they had moved away from a group of people they had just been talking to.

"Oh, I'm sure she's around here somewhere," she said, trying to reattach herself onto his arm.

"Gina, what are you doing?" he asked, looking down at her, pulling himself once again out of her grip.

"Oh come on Ricky, what's the matter? Scared of touching me? I don't bite...much" she added with a wink.

Castle backed away from her, "Yes, Gina, I know that, but we are over. I don't want you as a girlfriend, partner, whatever you want to call it. I don't want to be with you."

"Oh what? Ever since you get partnered up with that detective of yours again, you suddenly have FEELINGS for her?! " she looked at him disgusted, but he didn't care.

"It's not like that Gina, and I don't really want to make a scene at my own party," he said, lowering his voice, "The fact is that I don't want to be with you, and you hanging off me is making me uncomfortable. We're done."

She was fuming now, but he kept calm as he walked away from her to the kitchen to pour himself a large helping of scotch. He downed it quickly and looked back to the sofa where Kate was sitting. But she wasn't there. He quickly scanned the rest of the room to see if she had gone somewhere, but he couldn't see her. He made his way around the room to see if she was somewhere where he couldn't see, but no luck.

After about 5 minutes of searching, out of the corner of his eye he saw a brunette in a red dress walking towards the front door.

"Kate!" he called out, making his way to her. But she didn't turn to look at him, she just continued to walk out of the apartment and closed the door behind her. By the time Castle had dodged his way through the crowd, Beckett had made it out the door and was already pushing the button to the elevator.

* * *

"Kate, wait!" he said, gasping for breath, "Why are you leaving? The party isn't over yet."

"Why am I leaving Castle?! Gee… _I don't know_" she shot back sarcastically, "How about the fact that you still love your ex-wife, how you strung me along for the past few weeks, made me think that we were friends again after everything that happened over the summer? I accepted your invitation so we could spend some time together away from the precinct, I get here, and you walk away from me to spend time with your ex-wife! Tell me Castle, why should I NOT go home?"

"Kate, are you serious!? I don't love Gina, I don't even care about her! I care about you!"

"So if you care about me then why did you let her get so close to you?"

"I don't know Kate, I just…" he was frustrated now, she could tell. He was running his fingers through his hair and walked around the small corridor. The elevator had come, but neither one of them looked twice at it.

He stopped pacing around and walked over to her, closing the distance between their bodies to only inches apart.

"Kate, I don't know why I let Gina get close to me and touch me like that, like we were a couple. I ended it with her months ago, but obviously she hand't gotten the message. Just then I told her that we were over. I never want to be together with her again. I want to be with…"

He looked away quickly, moving away from her, once again pacing the corridor, muttering under his breath.

"Be with who, Castle?" she asked gently.

He stopped pacing again and leaned against the wall, sinking himself to the ground, his head in his hands, trying not to look at her.

She moved over to where he was and sat down next to him. She leaned against his side and put her head on his shoulders. He took her hand in his and kissed it.

"You," he whispered softly. "It's always been you Kate,"

He opened his arms and she moved her body so that she was sitting on his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist while she wrapped her own around his shoulders, snuggling closer to his chest and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Castle," she sighed, "It's always been you too."

"Took us long enough to admit it eh?"

She laughed and kissed the top of his hair, smiling to herself.

"For two smart people we sure can be idiots, can't we?"

"We sure can," he agreed.

"So…" she began,

"So...?"

"Does this mean...that...we are...together now? I mean, what does this mean for us? Are we going to have to stop working together or…."

"Kate shhh….let's not have to worry about that right now. We can talk about it next year," he said, winking. She smiled at him and buried her head further into his neck.

Castle removed a hand from her waist to check his watch.

"Woah! It's almost midnight. We better head inside for the countdown,"

"Okay" she sighed, getting up from his lap and helped him to pull himself up.

Castle lead her back to the apartment with a hand wrapped around her waist. When they entered, they got an angry glare from Gina, but he didn't care.

Kate was his.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I wasn't sure how to end it so I kind of just left it there. The next chapter will be the last. I'm really sorry for the poor quality of this chapter. I wrote it over the span of a week so I lost my train of thought while writing it. But I hope you liked it :) Constructive criticism welcome! Reviews make me smile :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This is the last chapter. Thank you all for reviewing and favouriting and following! It has meant so much to me that others like my stories. Thank you so much for reading! I am really sorry I haven't updated in a while but school got the better of me :( overall I think I could have written a much better story if I had the time but I don't, maybe next year….stay tuned for that ;) Now, without further ado, here is the final chapter! Don't forget to R&R! Let me know your final thoughts and any requests for others stories you may want!**

* * *

After entering the loft, they joined the band of people that had all gathered around the television, watching a live feed of Time Square.

"1 minute to go!" yelled the announcer

Everyone in the room cheered and held onto their significant other. Castle was still holding on to Kate's waist, and pulled her in closer to him, she rested her hand on his chest and looked into his eyes.

"Only a minute to go detective, don't want to back out now? It's not too late." he asked, sarcastically.

She smirked at him and shook her head, pulling herself even closer to him.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at midnight than right here with you."

"30 seconds!" the announcer yelled once again.

"Kate, I don't know about you, but I want this to last longer than tonight. I don't want things to go back to the way they were. I like how it is now. I want to be here again with you next year, and for as many years as you will have me for after that"

"10 SECONDS!"

She looked away shyly but quickly returned his gaze, and leaned in close so she could whisper in his ear,

"Always, Castle. Always."

"3...2…1...HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the room erupted with shouts and laughter, noise makers going off people celebrating the start of the new year, which was momentarily interrupted by silence, as people all around the room had grabbed their partners and kissed them.

Castle pulled Beckett into his chest even further than he had perviously, and leant in and kissed her, softly at first, but she leant in to him and deepened the kiss.

When they pulled apart, they leant down and rested their foreheads together.

"Happy New Year Kate," he whispered to her,

"Happy New Year, Castle," she replied.

* * *

**A/N: Once again, thank you for all of your alerts for previous chapters! I hope you liked this one! If you have any requests for more chapters in the future, let me know in a review below, or message me on tumblr: castleismyoneanddone**

**Thank you from the bottom of my heart, once again!**


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